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August 07, 2006

No stupid questions about interviewing

If you've ever felt clueless because your questions about interviewing for a journalism job are so basic, you can relax.

In an article on interviewing strategies for the Chronicle of Higher Education, Dennis M. Barden marvels how so many people in academe who have been on search committees wonder what strategies they should themselves use when they apply for jobs. Barden is vice president and director of the higher-education practice at an executive search firm.

He writes, "Shouldn't they already know the answers to some of those questions? Is the passage from one side of the hiring table to the other really a journey to a different dimension?"

Barden's observations on attire struck home, as well. He writes, "The strategy for interview attire is apparently only slightly less complex than the endgame strategy for Iraq."

What is he talking about? This: "The amount of jewelry and its coordination, the volume of scent, the style and height of shoes, and, particularly, hemlines are issues ripe for discussion."

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Comments

As an educator, I have gone through the interview process for academic jobs a number of times. I agree with Barden's comments about the appropriateness of attire at such interviews. I've known a number of qualified people who were not hired and later heard through the grapevine that their attire had influenced perceptions of their professionalism and how they'd fit into the university at which they'd applied.